Post by Okwes on Feb 8, 2006 10:59:36 GMT -5
Tribe begins diabetes prevention program
By Ben Torbush, Staff Writer
Monday, February 6, 2006 1:36 PM PST
www.theworldlink.com/articles/2006/02/06/news/news0202062006.tx
t
Coos Bay resident Richanne Jennings looks healthy and happy. Her
affable disposition and career in the health care profession belie
the fact that she is, like many Americans, at risk for a debilitating
disease.
Jennings, a member of the Chippewa Tribe, is one of the first
volunteers to go through the screening process for a new diabetes
prevention program begun by the Coquille Indian Tribe and numerous
tribal groups throughout the United States.
The Coquille Tribe is receiving one-third of a $2.2 million grant to
fund the diabetes prevention program. The Southern Oregon Tribal
Diabetes Prevention Consortium, comprising members of the Coquille
Indian Tribe, The Klamath Tribe and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua
Tribe of Indians began work on the program in October of 2004.
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The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will
allow the consortium to help prevent type 2 diabetes among its
people. The consortium is one of 35 tribal groups in the United
States -among the more than 500 eligible federally recognized tribes -
to initiate a diabetes prevention program.
The national program was established to counteract the growing
epidemic of diabetes among Native Americans. According to Consortium
Program Director Susan M. Ferris, American Indians are at least twice
as likely as other groups to develop the disease.
"The cost for diabetes health care in 2002 was $132 billion. It's
around $150 billion now," Ferris said. "We all better roll up our
sleeves and get informed."
Locally, the program will involve 144 pre-diabetic people, divided
equally among the three tribes. Volunteers from the program must be
at least 18 years old and members of any federally recognized tribe.
Volunteers are beginning to be screened, and the program organizers
are seeking more.
Volunteers who are pre-diabetic and who wish to participate in the
program are asked to make a three-year commitment.
Jennings said she is willing to make that commitment for health
reasons, and she is ready to make the personal changes necessary to
prevent developing diabetes.
"It's a good lifestyle change," she said. "I think it will be more
beneficial to me."
The overriding goals of the program are for participants to lose 7
percent of their body weight and to get 150 minutes of exercise per
week.
"It's hard, but it's not unattainable," said Diabetes Educator Kelle
Little, who is heading up the program for the Coquille Tribe.
Volunteers taking part in the program at the Coquille Indian Tribe
Community Health Center will have extensive education, mentoring,
coaching and other support from Health Education Coordinator Gail
Accinelli. She said the volunteers will meet in eight-member groups
for 16-week classes. The same procedure and curriculum, focused on
nutrition and exercise, will be used by each of the three tribes.
As a lifestyle coach, Accinelli also will meet with volunteers
individually and work to help them form good habits. She plans to
work with the volunteers to help them set personal goals
"One of the hardest challenges is to keep people motivated," she
said. "I think people have to understand that when you change your
lifestyle, you don't have to change what you eat. You just have to
maybe cook it in a different way."
Little and Accinelli, along with Family Nurse Practitioner Pat Dudas,
make up the team heading up the project for the Coquille Tribe. They
spent the first year planning for the program with representatives
from other participating tribes. Little said the program is based on
a National Institutes of Health diabetes prevention program, but has
been adapted to reflect the cultures and meet the needs of Native
American populations.
"Variation among cultures and levels of assimilation are huge," she
said. "Food variations are very individualized."
The consortium further adapted the program to fit food choices and
cultural differences of local tribes.
The program is free to volunteers. All of the supplies, including
food vouchers to help participants make good food choices, will be
covered. Tribes don't have to provide matching funds to receive the
grant, but are responsible for program director and administrator
salaries and medical support.
"The Coquille Tribe has definitely made a commitment, as have all the
other tribes," said Little.
Detailed records will be kept of volunteers' progress and submitted
confidentially every two weeks to the University of Colorado, which
has a contract with Indian Health Services to collect and analyze the
data. The results will be presented to Congress at the end of the
five-year project. If successful, the program could be expanded to
help other populations of Native Americans.
"Our hope is that we can prove that diabetes can be prevented," said
Little.
For more information, those interested can call Ferris, at (541) 672-
9405; or the Coquille Indian Tribe Community Health Center, at 888-
9494.
By Ben Torbush, Staff Writer
Monday, February 6, 2006 1:36 PM PST
www.theworldlink.com/articles/2006/02/06/news/news0202062006.tx
t
Coos Bay resident Richanne Jennings looks healthy and happy. Her
affable disposition and career in the health care profession belie
the fact that she is, like many Americans, at risk for a debilitating
disease.
Jennings, a member of the Chippewa Tribe, is one of the first
volunteers to go through the screening process for a new diabetes
prevention program begun by the Coquille Indian Tribe and numerous
tribal groups throughout the United States.
The Coquille Tribe is receiving one-third of a $2.2 million grant to
fund the diabetes prevention program. The Southern Oregon Tribal
Diabetes Prevention Consortium, comprising members of the Coquille
Indian Tribe, The Klamath Tribe and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua
Tribe of Indians began work on the program in October of 2004.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
Advertisement
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------
The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will
allow the consortium to help prevent type 2 diabetes among its
people. The consortium is one of 35 tribal groups in the United
States -among the more than 500 eligible federally recognized tribes -
to initiate a diabetes prevention program.
The national program was established to counteract the growing
epidemic of diabetes among Native Americans. According to Consortium
Program Director Susan M. Ferris, American Indians are at least twice
as likely as other groups to develop the disease.
"The cost for diabetes health care in 2002 was $132 billion. It's
around $150 billion now," Ferris said. "We all better roll up our
sleeves and get informed."
Locally, the program will involve 144 pre-diabetic people, divided
equally among the three tribes. Volunteers from the program must be
at least 18 years old and members of any federally recognized tribe.
Volunteers are beginning to be screened, and the program organizers
are seeking more.
Volunteers who are pre-diabetic and who wish to participate in the
program are asked to make a three-year commitment.
Jennings said she is willing to make that commitment for health
reasons, and she is ready to make the personal changes necessary to
prevent developing diabetes.
"It's a good lifestyle change," she said. "I think it will be more
beneficial to me."
The overriding goals of the program are for participants to lose 7
percent of their body weight and to get 150 minutes of exercise per
week.
"It's hard, but it's not unattainable," said Diabetes Educator Kelle
Little, who is heading up the program for the Coquille Tribe.
Volunteers taking part in the program at the Coquille Indian Tribe
Community Health Center will have extensive education, mentoring,
coaching and other support from Health Education Coordinator Gail
Accinelli. She said the volunteers will meet in eight-member groups
for 16-week classes. The same procedure and curriculum, focused on
nutrition and exercise, will be used by each of the three tribes.
As a lifestyle coach, Accinelli also will meet with volunteers
individually and work to help them form good habits. She plans to
work with the volunteers to help them set personal goals
"One of the hardest challenges is to keep people motivated," she
said. "I think people have to understand that when you change your
lifestyle, you don't have to change what you eat. You just have to
maybe cook it in a different way."
Little and Accinelli, along with Family Nurse Practitioner Pat Dudas,
make up the team heading up the project for the Coquille Tribe. They
spent the first year planning for the program with representatives
from other participating tribes. Little said the program is based on
a National Institutes of Health diabetes prevention program, but has
been adapted to reflect the cultures and meet the needs of Native
American populations.
"Variation among cultures and levels of assimilation are huge," she
said. "Food variations are very individualized."
The consortium further adapted the program to fit food choices and
cultural differences of local tribes.
The program is free to volunteers. All of the supplies, including
food vouchers to help participants make good food choices, will be
covered. Tribes don't have to provide matching funds to receive the
grant, but are responsible for program director and administrator
salaries and medical support.
"The Coquille Tribe has definitely made a commitment, as have all the
other tribes," said Little.
Detailed records will be kept of volunteers' progress and submitted
confidentially every two weeks to the University of Colorado, which
has a contract with Indian Health Services to collect and analyze the
data. The results will be presented to Congress at the end of the
five-year project. If successful, the program could be expanded to
help other populations of Native Americans.
"Our hope is that we can prove that diabetes can be prevented," said
Little.
For more information, those interested can call Ferris, at (541) 672-
9405; or the Coquille Indian Tribe Community Health Center, at 888-
9494.